China Slams ‘Discriminatory’ US Bill Curbing Espionage via Farmland

China’s Spy Agency Sees Risks in Smart Equipment Imports

Amid rising tensions with the West, China’s top intelligence agency has issued a new warning to its citizens: be wary of imported devices. In a July 21 post on its official WeChat account, China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS)—China’s spy agency known for espionage operations in the United States and other countries—cautioned that foreign-made chips, smart equipment, and systems may contain “back doors” that could allow foreign actors to acce…

Why Do Foreign Investors Buy American Farmland?

Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox. Foreign investors own almost 46 million acres of farm land in the United States, according to data from the 1978 Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA), a federal law meant to track international interest in American land. Foreign-owned far…

China slams ‘discriminatory’ US bill curbing espionage via farmland

Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks introduced a bill last week that would prevent foreign adversaries from buying up the nation’s farm and timber lands in order to spy on the U.S. and interrupt its food supply chain — despite the fact…

USDA initiative focuses on foreign ownership

House Bill Seeks More Insight on Foreign Ownership of US Farmland

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced a bill July 14 aimed at improving the tracking of foreign purchases of U.S. farmland. The legislation would require USDA to increase its information sharing with the Committee on Foreign Investment...